Cops: Eastpoint man bludgeons to death sexual predator

Bobby J. Bullock, Jr.

By DAVID ADLERSTEIN

Published: Monday, May 12, 2014 at 12:42 PM.

APALACHICOLA - A 46-year-old Eastpoint man has been charged in the beating death Saturday night of a notorious sexual predator who attracted nationwide attention in 2011 when he fled the county after being released from state prison to fend for himself in the woods.

Bobby J. Bullock, Jr., 46, Eastpoint, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he turned himself in to the sheriff’s office following the confrontation with Norman Bill Williams, 59, which took place sometime before 8:30 p.m. on 23 Washington Street.

Capt. Chester Creamer said second degree murder charges are pending because Dr. Lisa M. Flannagan, with the medical examiner’s office, has requested the opinion of a second pathologist regarding the blunt trauma wounds to the neck that felled Williams.

Creamer said several people, many of whom were intoxicated, witnessed the violent incident but are reluctant to come forward to police. “Few people want to talk about it,” he said.

According to a press release, Deputy Jamie Shiver was first to arrive at the scene, about 8:23 p.m., to find emergency medical technicians administering CPR to Williams. He was transported to Weems Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

APALACHICOLA - A 46-year-old Eastpoint man has been charged in the beating death Saturday night of a notorious sexual predator who attracted nationwide attention in 2011 when he fled the county after being released from state prison to fend for himself in the woods.

Bobby J. Bullock, Jr., 46, Eastpoint, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he turned himself in to the sheriff’s office following the confrontation with Norman Bill Williams, 59, which took place sometime before 8:30 p.m. on 23 Washington Street.

Capt. Chester Creamer said second degree murder charges are pending because Dr. Lisa M. Flannagan, with the medical examiner’s office, has requested the opinion of a second pathologist regarding the blunt trauma wounds to the neck that felled Williams.

Creamer said several people, many of whom were intoxicated, witnessed the violent incident but are reluctant to come forward to police. “Few people want to talk about it,” he said.

According to a press release, Deputy Jamie Shiver was first to arrive at the scene, about 8:23 p.m., to find emergency medical technicians administering CPR to Williams. He was transported to Weems Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The release said an investigation determined Williams had been arguing with David Holstein over “Williams having inappropriately touched a woman at his home.

“During that argument, Bobby Bullock struck Williams from behind with an ax handle just below his left ear, rendering him unconscious,” read the report.

The release said 30 minutes later, someone at the home “determined Williams had no pulse and called 911.”

Williams attracted widespread media attention in Sept. 2011, when he fled the woods outside Eastpoint after being released there from a stint in state prison. Because he was a sexual predator who had been shunned by his family, Williams had no place else he could legally stay, so probation officials placed a tracker on Williams' leg and told him to remain in the woods. He shed the device, and fled.

Two weeks later he was apprehended in Lafourche Parish, a fishing village in southwest Louisiana. At that time, Williams had an extensive criminal history, with numerous arrests stretching over several counties in Florida, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana. Prior arrests were for such crimes as armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, larceny, burglary, grand theft auto and drug possession.

After serving more than two years for failure to register as a sexual offender, Williams was released earlier this year to a residence in Tallahassee. He returned to Franklin County last week, and registered Saturday as a sexual predator here, with an address of 407 U.S 98 in Eastpoint.